An air bag is installed in a motor vehicle as a device to protect the driver and/or passenger from injury. During a collision, the occupant of the vehicle is often thrown forward causing the head or upper body to hit the steering wheel or dashboard. A rapidly inflating air bag prevents bodily contact with these parts of the vehicle. Present air bag systems are designed so that the structure for steering the air bag cause the space in front of the driver to be narrow and small. This may hinder operation of the vehicle and makes access to and from the driver's seat difficult.
One method of containing an air bag is to locate an opening in front of the driver and/or passenger on the instrument panel. The opening is trimmed with a molding. A reaction plate is located behind the air bag. The opening is covered by a door consisting of a lower piece attached to the reaction plate on the bottom of the chamber and an upper piece attached to the reaction plate along the top of the container. The door is opened by the force exerted by the expanding air bag.
An improvement has been proposed in that a recess portion is formed in the rear side surface of the air bag door at a portion in the upper vicinity of a connection portion between the lower end edge portion of the air bag door and the reaction plate. This reduces the thickness of the air bag door and is described in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 110338/1983).
This structure for enclosing an air bag results in having the door swing downward as the air bag expands. When the door is opened in this fashion there is a likelihood of it hitting the occupant's legs, possibly causing injury. This method also includes a separate molding that must be manufactured and installed separately. This is a disadvantage because it increases the number of parts needed and the attachment position of the molding on the instrument panel is limited in design.